Car top boat rack



Aug. 16, 19 49.

- c. E. B URKEY CAR TOP BOAT RACK 2 Sheets-$heet 1 Filed April 25, 1947 0 V E F- T N Km m RW "H 3w '0 A E Aug. 16, 1949.

c E. BURKEY CAR TOP BOAT RACK Filed April 25, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BURKEY INVENTOR.

CARL E.

BY 7 W ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 16, 1.949

can E. may, Seattle,'WashL' v r Application April25,1947, seiia no..,'i43,sta 1 My present invention relates tothe general class of devices which are used to transport articleson the top. of, passenger automobiles and, more particularly-to a car-top boat-rack.

. In recent-iyears, thevery; general use mobiles,- together with greatly improved roadnets, have given great impetus to the use of the general class of boats usually referred to as car-top boats. Such r boats are made. of either lightweight wood, or some of the light-weight metals, such as aluminum and its alloysgor magnesium, "andit isonly a natural consequence that people desire to have a convenient means fortransporting' their light-weight boats from point to point. Early in this field, use wasmade'of the already developed equipment used for "carrying skis'on the top of 'a'car. This proved to be unhandy, however, and'many devices have'been produced which are designed specifically for the "purpose of car rying boats on the 'top'of cars. It has been my' observation, however, that a large majority of the devices arranged for car-top cartage ofboats are of such design that it still requires two or threepersons'to' load a boat on top of a car, and

securelyhold the boat'in place. j With this problem needing a proper solution, l -have'provided a car-top boat-carrier which-is so arran ed that anumber of counter-balancing springs can be employed, to the end that in loading the boat on the ralck}the springs of my carrier are under tension, andfwhen the boat. is

loaded fa fraction of; the weight of the boat'only of. autothen man'y and devious means are employed to "t ,.boat ,anjd inspectlonlis-inade possible to furhas to pensive-dr mmin P1 6 boat to" the car-top position. With my arrangement; therefore; it is J easily possible for a single 'personto load a boat of such a weight that otherwise he could not liift it, but which, due to my counter-balancing spring arrangement, canbe, handled just as easily as I a very.light craft...

The principalobject myf pre sent invention,

therefore, is to provideacartop boat-rackwhich is provided with counter-balancingv springs so that only a portion of the actual weightofthe boat has to be overcome in-raising theboat to the cartop position. A y f A further object of my invention. is'to provide a car-top rack that makes it possible to easily r'aise a boat into the car-top position and have it ac curately and definitely positioned eachtime it is so raised. p p

A further object of m'y present invention is to provide a car-topboat-rack; in which the boat itself is'firmly secured-to thesupportingbars of my rack, while the boat is rssting withoneend 25 ca i eam i l I ound; so thatl i tlis convenient to secure therlins'ure thatfdeiinite andpositive engagement o stliei clamp vdevice is'pr vi s V a a furtherobie'ct. army invention istoprovide means whereby, with. the minimum of alteration or. adjustment, ,my caretop' rack may be applied to a wide-range ofcarswith their widely different bumper arrangements. V a Y .A ,further object,- of 'mypresent invention is to provide, meanswhereby a boat may beeasily and .quicklyloaded to the car-,topjiposition and, when loaded, willl'b secure ,in-Ilp'ositiori so; that even high-speed'op, ration, of .,-th' e ..car wil1- in no instance ldislodgethe boat, withthejresultant damge an risk,thatlthatuwould entail.

I ,LFurther objects; advantages. and capabilities will; be :apparentfirom the description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended or are inherent in the de'vice. a

vIn the drawings; 5;

Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview:showingimy car rack in place on -;an-. automobile and Withtji, boat I Fig. =2 is a -;cross-sectional.view through the vholding;down ,meansi I; employ, first to hold the boat to the rack, and secondly to hold the rack in placeon the top of; the can- Fig. 3 isax-cross-sectional view through an automobile bumper and showingthe means I employ to make :my rack readily adjustable to various types of bumper construction. A .59 1

Fig.1; showsmycar top boat rack in the normal position employedrwhiletransporting a boat; the outline of an automobile, is shown in dashed lines so: as to show the. relationship more clearly between the rack and thez-car. Y g;

'Fig:.; -5 .shows imy car rack in an intermediate position of its raising or lowering cycle. I

, Fig.6 showsmy cargr-ack inits lowermost position where therackIis-locked-by a latch so as to hold the springs under-"compression.

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one of the boat-securing, spring clamp mem- J I :.1 I: l y I I a Fig; '8 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion ofFigureG; s 1 1 Referring more particularly to the vdisclosure in. the drawings; the numerals 8 andrlll designate the boat-supporting bars of my carrier. These bars, which maybe-"of any suitable materials, have an overall length normally equal to the horizontal distance from therearbumper to thehigh point in the top curvature-"of the 'car 'withwhich the device is :to bev usedgmIn; certain instances it of removable pads as M which engage the car top a and resiliently support bar 12. I prefenthatpads H! be centrally pivoted as at l6 so thatthe pads can thus more easily conform to the-\jinansyeigse curvature of the car-top, and thus come to a firm bearing which will have the ieast tendency-to disfigure the finish of the car.

To hold bar l2 and its parts in position, I pro- ,vide a plurality. of holdingedown eli members 18.. iflhSelare aidiustablysecured'to bars!!! and L as .hy the; adj! table strapszrzfl shown. When y carrier is to.he.,.used Wit hiehare arrangedat the upper end wit a hook, or. other means, so as to suitablylandsseeu 1y engage preferably th gunwa es pt hoatf Bar in is req ired wh :the h a j toheflcarr ediis wider than the na insoffbars 8 and UL "At theirrlower ends k memb s 2. are. provided with a ben por on, t prqvide a seat *fo springs fl These- Sprm-gs have then norma'r'fre'e' compressmn 1 :the-top of the oar'byzmeans or, :hiooksi-l 8.; When controlledby the securing boltsifland should be ,4 has, at each of its ends, the clamping bolts 52 and 54. This provides a secure clamping arrangement so that the car bumper 56 can be positively and securely gripped. In Fig. 3, attention is invited to the filler piece 58 which is employed between the bumper and bracket 46. These filler pieces must of necessity be varied in order to accommodate the bracket member to various types .ofhumpers ans-employed on the different makes of automobiles, lit being .qnite essential that the positioning of bracket 46 be capable of reasonable adjustment, in that its positioning has a very important effect on the operation of my truss mean-s, "*To further make my equipment adaptable, Without structural changes, to different types of'installation, I have provided adjustable helridmieces-fM -bars 32 and 36, each having a ofsuch size, stock,*andthe coils sospaced; that j they, will at ,ailtimes haye a resilient; downwardly-directed thrust on the boat and-thnslhold the boat in engagement with bar jiL-even though the whole assembly "may' b'e "Jarred more .or less continuously, as for instanca when a -cai-jispassing oven-unimproved roads) 1 'At their rear ends; "bars-*8 andflfl areeonnected together preferably by a channel-shapedbar 28. -I;have-f ound it praetical-"to useshort section's of an upwardly raced geha'nnej --29, securedtc bar '28, wherein the leg portions are spaeed'apartsafficiently so that the transom 3O-ofa boat-may be seated inside the channel, and thus-a-very definite-forwardand rear stop is provided-which locates the-boat definitel-y and prevents its-1ongitudinal shifting. 1' I V "The rear support=ior-bars-$ and"! is provided in whatlprefentotem-a -truss arrangement I provide, on 'each side ei the-car, a truss "support means for 'barsii and-" 10'; respectively, which consists essentially of the -forward truss 'members 3-2, -which are pivoted; at 34' to' bars it or- -l-ll, and the rear truss-members 36,-

Truss member-36 is pivotalblyeonne'ctech to-*bars 8 orwhy the link members 38,. wlr ich arepivoted at their upper ends as'atsfll to theboa-t'supportingibars or ll), and at 'their lower ends to the rear trussmember 3, 3;t fl2. Theappereends-o'f the truss members 32 and 36 are connected-"togetherz'by- 'the pivoted strut r44, -connectingfbars 32 and 36 by pivots at each end :of fthe strut, whichare free to revolve. V

Attheir' lower ends, 'Ibarsi 3-2 and? are pivotably secured -.to the bumper bracket member Alias at A8 and 48, respectively.

The clearestunderstanding of the bumper bracket arrangement :will prohablyxbe ained fromthe showinglofjrFigi-fi. Thedmmnerrhraeket taisrheldinflplaeehyzthetclampmemhersiflaarhieh plurality of adjustment holes as 60 in bar 32, and fil'inbar 36. 5

Referring particularly to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, it is to be noted that employ two 5 sets 1 or toggle connectors '63 a el 6 5' which are pivoted-together M ethod '0): operation EEhe operation :of. rack will .zbestibeztunderstood, itisi believed,.-irom' :studyof-Figs;54, i5;an-d 6; BMeierri-ng: torFk-ig; satire-rack is mormally'oartried :in its uppermost: position an.d clamped --t.'o

it sdesined, iorsinstance, toload aboat,.qhooks 1, must he released, normally by slackingiofi on thezadjustable strap-120, until they can be releas d from-their point of enga ement with the 'nardaedy,.;as :Ior instance, thegutter {illustrated dntFi-giz, As soon as hooks l8 -arerreleaseda sin le individual can-grasp one of the-truss members -ortheeentnal connecting'members between the "trusses, andpull the :rack downwardly :against the. compressionof-springs- 68-and 10. if a boat of pounds Wei ht is to be earried,:it is .clesirajble that the tens-ioning of these springs ;:should:be,-such that, when-the framework isin -tl osition-shown ,inF-ig. ,5, it should take about -pound applied force-to bring the carrier down to the grounded position, as .shown'in Fig. When-,thera-ek is ,fully grounded,.-it is then usually-found desirable -.to, latch the same in its down position by means of the,pivoted latches J8, which are pivoted ia-11181111361332 and-have "lwokediengaging arrangements to -hook over a ,projeeting ;pin:or bolt'in' the side supporting frame rnembersfi and 1,0. 7 c

. .When-fihe frame-is in its grounded position, the boat, or other material th'atiit is desired to carry, can then be easily applied to theloadsup-portingbars and atthat time, while every .nartpffthe carrier is in the easily reachedposition, the boat should be made secure to the framepas for instance, .by 'means of the hook members 22. If it were desired to makesecure the :boat, brother materials, by tying the same in placa it will beapparentit isbelieved, that thisisthemost convenient positi on; for. such ,final securin As soon as the boat is in place, it will normally have a weight greater thanthe upper thrust of ,the various-springs, so at this timelatche18-can he released and the boat raised at any future timedesired, a

In the actual raising. (if-the boat by use of my frame, it is believed it willbe apparent from rangementtends to transfer the load from one mernberfto' th"'other"'ai1d the boat 'iS, moved through ,quite a long distance in order to, raise it a relatively small amount, it being remembered thatthe center or gravity foffthe boat; when .it reposes on .the frame in the position shown in Fig. 6, is about waist-high on. the ordinary individual, and it is' actually'only necessary to raise the center of gravity another couple feet or so in order to get it into its uppermost position. If this principle is understood, it is believed it will be apparent that relatively little effort is required, so that a device of this order can be easily operated by children or women or persons who are not accustomed to doing heavy lifting.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the various springs have been shown with their coils at different spacings, so as to illustrate the positions of the springs where they have their maximum extension. It should thus be apparent then that the maximum lifting of the springs occurs in moving from the position. of Fig. 6 to that of Fig. 5, and that in moving from the position of Fig. 5 to that of Fig. 4, the springs become less extended until, when they are in the uppermost position, they are under very little tension.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of a car-top boat rack.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A car-top boat rack comprising: spaced, substantially parallel boat-supporting bars extending from the vertical plane including the rear bumper of an automobile to or beyond the high point of the car top; a forward spacing bar secured to said supporting bars near the front ends of said supporting bars; a removable pad pivotably secured to said forward bar; a rear spacing bar secured to the rear ends of said supporting bars; means secured to said rear bar adapted to position the transom of a boat and secure it against either forward or rearward movement; a transverse support bar secured to said boat supporting bars intermediate their ends; resiliently mounted hook members secured to said transverse bar and adapted to hold a boat to said supporting bars; forward truss members pivotably secured to said boat supporting bars intermediate their rear ends and the transverse bar; rear truss members lying in the same fore and aft plane as the forward truss members and pivotably connected to them by a pivoted strut; a bumper bracket adapted for attachment to a car rear bumper and providing pivot securing means for said truss members; toggle connectors pivotally secured to said forward and rear truss members; and tension means secured at the central pivots of said toggle connectors and to the rear truss members.

2. A car-top boat rack, comprising: spaced, boat-supporting bars extending substantially from the vertical plane including the rear bumper of an automobile to or beyond the high point of the car top; a forward spacing bar secured to said supporting bars near the front ends of said supporting bars; a pad secured to said forward bar and adapted to rest on the car top; a rear spacing .bar secured to the rear ends of said supporting bars; means secured to said rear bar adapted to position the transom of a boat and secure it against either forward or rearward movement; a

transverse support bar securedto said boat-supporting bars intermediate their ends; resiliently mounted hook members secured to said transverse bar and adapted to hold a boat to said supporting bars; forward truss members pivotably secured to said'boat-supporting bars intermediate their rear ends and the transverse bar; rear truss members lying in the same fore and aft plane'as the forward truss members and pivotably connected to them by a pivoted strut; a bumper bracket adapted for attachment to an automobile arid'pr'o'vi'ding pivot securing means for said truss members; toggle connectors pivotably secured to said forward and rear truss members; and tension means secured at the central pivots of said toggle connectors and to the rear truss members.

3. A car top boat rack comprising: spaced, boat-supporting bars extending substantially from the vertical plane including the rear bumper of an automobile to or beyond the high point of the car top; a forward spacing bar secured to said supporting bars near the front ends of said supporting bars; a removable pad pivotably secured to said forward bar; a rear spacing bar secured to the rear ends of said supporting bars; means secured to said rear bar adapted to position the transom of a boat and secure it against either forward or rearward movement; resiliently mounted hook members adapted to hold a boat to said supporting bars; forward truss members pivotably secured to said boat supporting bars intermediate their ends; rear truss members lying in the same fore and aft plane as the forward truss members and pivotably connected to them by a pivoted strut; a bumper bracket adapted for attachment to a car rear bumper and providing pivot securing means for said truss members; toggle connectors pivotably secured to said forward and rear truss members; and tension means secured at the central pivots of said toggle connectors and to the rear truss members.

4. A car-top boat rack comprising: spaced, boat-supporting bars extending substantially from the vertical plane including the rear bumper of an automobile to or beyond the high point of the car top; a forward spacing bar secured to said supporting bars near the front ends of said supporting bars; a rear spacing bar secured to the rear ends of said supporting bars; resiliently mounted hook members adapted to hold a boat to said supporting bars; forward truss members pivotably secured to said boat-supporting bars intermediate their rear ends; rear truss members lying in the same fore and aft plane as the forward truss members and pivotably connected to them by a pivoted strut; a bumper bracket adapted for attachment to a car rear bumper and providing two pairs of transversely positioned, axially aligned, pivots and securing means for said struss members; and spring tension means secured between said forward and rear truss members and positioned to be energized in lowering said boat rack and to expand their energy in raising said rack to its carry position.

5. A car-top boat rack comprising: spaced, boat-supporting bars extending substantially from the vertical plane including the rear bumper of an automobile to'or beyond the high point of the car top; a forward spacing bar secured to said supporting bars near the front ends of said supporting barsyarearspacihg bar secured to the "rear ends of said supporting bars; resiliently mounted hook members adapted to hold a boat to said supporting-bars; forward truss members pivot-ably secured to said boat-supporting bars intermediate their rear ends; rear truss members lying in the same'fore and aft plane as the forward truss members and pivotably connected to them; a bumper bracket adapted for'attachment to "aear rear bumper and providing two pairs of transversely positioned, axially aligned pivots and securing means for said truss members; the pivot 'axis of the forward truss members being disposed in front of and above the pivot axis of the rear truss members.

CARL BURKEY.

ssrmsxeuronm The ieiisw'ii s 'refererress are 6? Heard in the "fiie 6f this patent:

UNITEDSTATES 2km Number V, mma fiete "23001319 tsvbyeru-smnrue Amy '14, 1935 2,189,632 busier r s ev. i4, i939 zs uzs' Isvey Jiifie'fi i, 1941 2,294364 fisim'er sleet. '1, 1942 2,392,008 Squires J'afi. 1, 1946 2,393,173 'riobier T.-.i 'ieb'. iii, 1946 2,412,162 'riirrdtilaih' mud-es flee. 3, 1946 

